Uphaar Cinema Fire - The Investigation and Trial

The Investigation and Trial

In the beginning a magisterial probe took place which submitted its report on July 3, 1997, wherein it held cinema management, Delhi Vidyut Board, city fire service, the Delhi police's licensing branch and municipal corporation responsible for the incident saying "it contributed to the mishap through their acts of omission and commission", it also blamed the cinema management for losing precious time in alerting the fire services, and also for not maintaining proper distance between the transformer room and the car park. It also said that, "when the fire broke out at 1645 hours, the movie was not stopped nor any announcement made to evacuate the audience. Exit signs were not battery-operated and once the lights went out, panic-struck people had to grope in the dark for exits, many of which were blocked by seats". Subsequently the courts issued non-bailable warrants against Sushil Ansal, his brother Gopal, a Delhi Vidyut Board inspector and two fire service officials. After evading arrest for many days, Sushil and his son Pranav Ansal, the owners of Ansals Theatres and Club Hotels Limited, which owned the Uphaar cinema were finally arrested in Mumbai on July 27, 1997, and sent to judicial custody, though were later released on bail. Also amongst those arrested was the company's director V K Aggarwal.

Following the inquiry, Union Home ministry transferred the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) amidst charges of cover-up by victims families, which on November 15, 1997, filed chargesheet against 16 accused, including theatre owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal, for causing death by negligence, endangering life and relevant provisions of the Cinematography Act, 1952. By 2000, the prosecution has completed the recording of evidence with the testimony of its 115 witnesses. The court case ran for over a decade, and the court had over 344 hearings during the first seven years. Four of the accused died, and eight witnesses, mostly relatives of Ansals turned hostile witness, despite High court responding to AVUT's plea and asking trial court in 2002, to expedite the case Meanwhile as the criminal trial dragged on, in 2003, a presiding judge commented upon the repeated requests (for adjournment) as being intended to delay the case.

Almost nine years after the tragedy, a trial court judge visited the Uphaar cinema hall in August, 2006, accompanied by CBI officials who investigated the case to get a first hand look at the seating and fire safety arrangements, which have been blamed for the tragedy. The site had been preserved as “material evidence” since the tragedy. The visit followed a High Court order in which the trial court was asked to examine all available evidence in the matter, and as the courts proceeding were coming to an end. In its report the court observed that on the second floor balcony of the theatre, where victims were asphyxiated, “the space provided for exhaust fans on the walls was found blocked with the help of a cardboard”.